Materials that instructors have placed under restricted circulation periods (e.g., hourly, overnight) are kept at the library Circulation Desk or made available online so all students will have access to them. Reserve materials may include textbooks, class readings, exams, audio/visual and other supplementary items.
How the Course Reserve System Works
Students can locate reserve material by using the web interface to the library's online catalog, (searching the course reserve system by instructor's name or the course title) or by inquiring at the Circulation Desk. Students must have a valid library card to use course reserve materials, both traditional material and e-reserves.
Traditional reserve materials are checked out to students for a period of time (loan period) which is selected by the instructor. Fines are charged on overdue Reserve material. Online reserves (e-reserves) are available online for unlimited time periods, and may be viewed or printed. Viewing and printing of linked full-text/full-image E-reserve materials often requires an up-to-date web browser (available on all computers on campus) and Adobe® Acrobat® Reader®, which is installed on all computers in the Library and English Center and can be downloaded for free for use off-campus.
How to Place Materials on Course Reserve
Instructors may place either library owned materials or personal copies of instructional materials on reserve. Reserve materials might include books, exams, class notes, overheads, photocopies, audiovisual or digitized materials. All materials, including personal copies, will have labels, barcodes and other library information affixed to them. While the library does not have the resources to purchase any copies of assigned texts for classes, we welcome the opportunity to make one or more copies of texts available on reserve. Please allow at least 48 hours for the processing of traditional reserve materials, and one week for e-reserves.
All Original Material submissions should be accompanied by an ORIGINALS Course Reserve Submission Form, and any item photocopied from an original source should be attached to a PHOTOCOPY Course Reserve Submission Form. Commercial audiovisual materials that have been copied must be accompanied with a letter from the copyright holder.
Special requirements for E-reserves
If journal articles to be placed on E-reserve are available in the College-licensed online databases, we can either scan in a copy of the article or create a direct link to the article in the online database. Click here for information on accessing these databases from off-campus.
Instructors can submit materials by mail, email or in person to the Library Circulation Desk. Exams, class notes and overheads may be submitted on 3 ½" diskette, Zip™ disk or CD, or as an attachment to email, sent to library@mpc.edu.
It is the instructor's responsibility to submit a clear, usable copy and to obtain copyright clearance. All materials placed on E-reserve are automatically password protected, with the exception of exams, class notes, overheads and digitized images for which the instructor holds copyright clearance.
Copyright Information
The FIRST use of ONE copied item on course reserve falls under the 'Fair Use Policy'; subsequent uses and copies do not. Multiple copies and/or usage of materials for multiple semesters require the securing of copyright compliance. Please note that responsibility for compliance with U.S. Copyright laws in regards to reserve materials rests with the instructor.
Beginning Spring Semester, 2003, all material on the reserve shelves will need to have copyright clearance. If copyright clearance is not obtained, materials will need to be removed from Course Reserve.
A form letter (choose Word document or Adobe® Acrobat® .pdf ) is available for instructors to submit to publishers to obtain clearance. Click here to view a sample letter completed using this form. For assistance locating a publisher’s address, please contact a Reference librarian at 646-4262 or by email.